PowerShell Scripting to Replicate Zendesk Data to MySQL

The CData Cmdlets for Zendesk offer live access to Zendesk data from within PowerShell. Using PowerShell scripts, you can easily automate regular tasks like data replication. This article will walk through using the CData Cmdlets for Zendesk and the CData Cmdlets for MySQL in PowerShell to replicate Zendesk data to a MySQL database.

After obtaining the needed connection properties, accessing Zendesk data in PowerShell and preparing for replication consists of four basic steps.

Connecting to Zendesk

To connect, set the URL and provide authentication. The URL is your Zendesk Support URL: https://{subdomain}.zendesk.com.

Authenticating to Zendesk

You can authenticate using the Basic or OAuth methods.

Using Basic Authentication

To use Basic authentication, specify your email address and password or your email address and an API token. Set User to your email address and follow the steps below to provide the Password or ApiToken.

• Enable password access in the Zendesk Support admin interface at Admin > Channels > API.
• Manage API tokens in the Zendesk Support Admin interface at Admin > Channels > API. More than one token can be active at the same time. Deleting a token deactivates it permanently.

Using OAuth Authentication

See the Getting Started guide in the CData driver documentation for an authentication guide.

Collecting Zendesk Data

1. Install the module:

   Install-Module ZendeskCmdlets

2. Connect to Zendesk:

    $zendesk = Connect-Zendesk -URL $URL -User $User -Password $Password -InitiateOAuth $InitiateOAuth
    

3. Retrieve the data from a specific resource:

    $data = Select-Zendesk -Connection $zendesk -Table "Tickets"
    

   You can also use the Invoke-Zendesk cmdlet to execute pure SQL-92 statements:

    $data = Invoke-Zendesk -Connection $zendesk -Query 'SELECT * FROM Tickets WHERE Industry = @Industry' -Params @{'@Industry'='Floppy Disks'}
    

4. Save a list of the column names from the returned data.

    $columns = ($data | Get-Member -MemberType NoteProperty | Select-Object -Property Name).Name
    

Inserting Zendesk Data into the MySQL Database

With the data and column names collected, you are ready to replicate the data into a MySQL database.

1. Install the module:

   Install-Module MySQLCmdlets

2. Connect to MySQL, using the server address and port of the MySQL server, valid user credentials, and a specific database with the table in which the data will be replicated:

    $mysql = Connect-MySQL -User $User -Password $Password -Database $Database -Server $Server -Port $Port
    

3. Loop through the Zendesk data, store the values, and use the Add-MySQL cmdlet to insert the data into the MySQL database, one row at a time. In this example, the table will need to have the same name as the Zendesk resource (Tickets) and to exist in the database.

    $data | % {
    $row = $_
    $values = @()
    $columns | % {
    $col = $_
    $values += $row.$($col)
    }
    Add-MySQL -Connection $mysql -Table "Tickets" -Columns $columns -Values $values
    }
    

You have now replicated your Zendesk data to a MySQL database. This gives you freedom to work with Zendesk data in the same way that you work with other MySQL tables, whether that is performing analytics, building reports, or other business functions.

Notes

• Once you have connected to Zendesk and MySQL in PowerShell, you can pipe command results to perform the replication in a single line:

   Select-Zendesk -Connection $zendesk -Table "Tickets" | % {
   $row = $_
   $values = @()
   $columns | % {
   $col = $_
   $values += $row.$($col)
   }
   Add-MySQL -Connection $mysql -Table "Tickets" -Columns $columns -Values $values
   }
   

• If you wish to replicate the Zendesk data to another database using another PowerShell module, you will want to exclude the Columns, Connection, and Table columns from the data returned by the Select-Zendesk cmdlet since those columns are used to help pipe data from one CData cmdlet to another:

   $columns = ($data | Get-Member -MemberType NoteProperty | Select-Object -Property Name).Name | ? {$_ -NotIn @('Columns','Connection','Table')}